Any time we raise our voices to speak out against injustice, it is an act of courage. But it takes being a certain type of daring to a challenge a powerful man with a team of agents, lawyers, and spin on his home turf.

The campaign succeeded in forcing the singer to withdraw from a concert held at the University of Illinois. The resulting first-ever canceled R. Kelly concert in Chicago has a certain poetic justice for Tillet.

Tillet’s organization, A Long Walk Home, uses art to end violence against and empower black women and girls. Meanwhile, Kelly’s art, along with the fame and power that comes with it, has shielded him for over two decades from his transgressions. (Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008; women have come forward alleging abuse as recently as May 2018.)

Successfully boycotting a concert in Chicago, Kelly’s hometown, “sent a loud message nationally about accountability,” Tillet says. “For [the concert] to be canceled in Chicago is a huge win for all survivors,” she concludes.

“Our goal is to create a larger conversation [that] Chicago hasn’t really had,” Tillet adds. “How does Chicago hold people accountable for sexual violence and create communities to become upstanders to violence?”

It is critical to note that black women are leading this moment—from #MeToo to #MuteRKelly. “Patriarchy and racism work together to invisibilize violence against black women and girls,” Tillet says. “This is a message for black girls and black women survivors that their stories are heard and we see you.”

Across our city and our nation, women like Tillet and Bennett are standing up to power, telling their truth, and daring to demand safe, healthy, and just communities for all women and girls. Tarana Burke, an African-American woman who created the #MeToo movement against sexual assault and harassment, continues to grow to include a diversity of stories of women from low-wage working women at McDonald’s and Walmart, to agricultural and domestic workers, and athletes at the top of their careers.

The threat of harassment, abuse, and assault remains a common thread among women. But increasingly, we are refusing to stay silent, and instead, we are finding power in our truth and daring to make a difference.